COMMUNITY OVER COMPETITION // may 13, 2021 blog #2
When community is more important than getting ahead, the world changes. Community is taking risks on complete strangers and developing relationships with them. Sharing spaces, sharing meals, sharing life together. Being able to call my closest business partners my closest friends is something I don’t take for granted. It’s meant leaving ego behind. Sharing graciously and offering opportunities to others as much as I accept them. Leading projects and assisting in others. It means giving freely to see my friends succeed on their own accord. Because when one of us wins, we all win. And, that gives us more and more opportunities to bring others up along with us. Community over competition isn’t just a catchy phrase to soften the hearts of young entrepreneurs. It gets at something more profound; it enables us to be better business owners, better artists, better people. There are people willing and waiting around to step in. Don’t be afraid to allow people into what you’re creating. None of us are meant to do this on our own.
-gerard connors III
MOMENTS IN TIME // may 5, 2021 blog #1
I recently watched the film Kodachrome, and this quote in the film spoke to me. The quotation by Ben Ryder, played by Edward Allen Harris, speaks depths to what it means to be a photographer. All we have are moments; whether good or bad, moments will continue to happen. Many of us tend not to live in the moment these days, and our society has become isolated to themselves and their screens. Granted, there are pros and cons to social media; it has given us the chance to connect with other individuals globally but has disconnected us from those in front of us. That’s why moments, in my opinion, are becoming so much more precious.
The importance of a moment in photography or videography is very substantial to me. When I take a photo of someone or something, I try to find some value in the craft. As Harris says, “to commit moments to eternity.” When we are working on a wedding film, that is what we are doing, that video will be played for generations, and that story will be told to children and grandchildren for years on end. It is something special, isolating a moment into one frame, and that one frame is the only time that moment has happened and will happen for eternity. It is nothing less than gratifying work. The beauty in it all is that everyone is a photographer now; it is so inexpensive and accessible. It allows us to slow down time and reflect and relive moments in our life. Now, the flip side to this is being present in the moment without a screen. And, I do not mean never to take a photo because that would contradict this whole blog. But, what I do mean is don’t spend an entire moment digitally. Capture your image and then be there now, in the present with the ones you love. It’s an ebb and flow, a balance.
I’m trying to get across that moments are never stopping for us, but we should know when to stop in the moment, I suppose.
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